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Roy-O's Contract

The Chronicle reports today that the Astros are close to signing Roy Oswalt to a 2-year deal worth $17 million. The deal would not buy out any of Roy-O's free agent years, as he'll become a free agent after the 2007 season. The deal would allow the Astros to avoid going to arbitration with Oswalt this and next year, a standard practice for Drayton.

Several things are interesting about the article.

1.) There are named quotes from Drayton, Tim Purpura, and Roy-O's agent Bob Garber. This indicates that this is not an attempt by one of the sides to negotiate via the media.
2.) The deal appears to be backloaded. Oswalt may make less than the $6 million the Astros offered in arbitration, and make that up next year. This follows an interest pattern of the Astros, who signed a backloaded deal with Andy Pettitte, and an essentially backloaded deal with Roger Clemens.
3.) That could mean that the Astros have some money to spend before or during the season. But it's will only be a million dollars or two. The Astros management are never worse than when spending $1-$2 million, as they consistently give that amount of money to players whose production is not worth more than a player they could get for the minimum.

Net Win Shares Value--Roy Oswalt
$5,882,204

Roy Oswalt--ZIPS Projection

ERA W-L IP H BB SO
3.35 17-9 215 203 55 189




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